Opinion
Editorial

Remarkable victories - EDITORIAL

Congratulations are in order for Justin Trudeau and Terry Sheehan for their resounding election victories Monday night.

Trudeau's victory was certainly remarkable.

Leading his party from third place in the House to a majority government, is something political scientists and historians will be studying for years to come.

At the start of the campaign few gave Trudeau much of a chance, but as the long, gruelling campaign plodded forward, his positive message resonated with voters who had grown weary of Stephen Harper.

That happens when you're in power for a number of years. People naturally want change and Trudeau was the right man in the right place at the right time.

So was Sheehan.

The longtime city councillor is off to Ottawa where he will represent local residents at the federal level.

How does a local MP, who is not very likely to get a cabinet seat, make his or her mark.

At one time Justin's dad referred to backbench MPs as a 'bunch of nobodies.' Fortunately, our new prime minister has expressed a different view.

He proposed democratic reforms that would relax party discipline in Parliament, giving government backbenchers the freedom to vote as they see fit on a number of different bills. We hope he holds true to this.

Backbench MPs can make an impact in the various Parliamentary committees on which they serve. This doesn't always get much press, but it is important work.

Furthermore, our new prime minister campaigned hard on the idea that he was willing to go into a deficit to give the economy a boost through massive infrastructure spending.

Even those opposed to this strategy will want our MP to make sure we get our fair share of funding.

The Conservatives and NDP will be licking their wounds and pondering their futures. The new government has a good opportunity to move early and quickly on the initiatives it set forward.

We wish them luck and we'll always remind them that expectations are high for any government given such a strong mandate.